Iqbal Siregar

Head of the Jakarta branch of Indonesia's Islamic Youth Movement (GPI). After September 11 he recruited and trained young men as soldiers, and then sent them to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban

Iqbal Siregar

Head of the Jakarta branch of Indonesia's Islamic Youth Movement (GPI). After September 11 he recruited and trained young men as soldiers, and then sent them to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban

This is the first time we have ever sent troops anywhere as GPI is not a radical armed group, it is just a non-governmental organisation for young people. It was a spontaneous action - we were not driven by links to the Taliban or al-Qaida but by our Islamic beliefs - on hearing George Bush saying: "If you are not with us you are against us." We wanted to show the Afghans they were not alone. What the Taliban did was not nearly as dramatic or extreme as illustrated in the newspapers.

I opened registration centres in several cities. About 750 people registered in a few days in Jakarta, many of them who had never had anything to do with GPI but wanted to show their support for their Muslim brothers. The first part of their training focused on religion because we were going overseas in the name of our religion. The spiritual aspect was vital so they could identify with their Afghan brothers. Then we gave technical training after the Taliban sent us a syllabus and a training methodology manual - standard military training, weapons training, explosives training, survival in the mountains.

Not everyone was nominated to go abroad to fight. We eventually sent about 100 from Jakarta. We would have liked to send more but we had difficulty getting travel documents. We also sent doctors and medics to Afghanistan and couriers to other countries to keep us informed of what was really going on so we would not have to rely on the American propaganda.

We know at least five became martyrs in Afghanistan and we lost contact with a number of others. I was ready to go and spill my blood for my faith but by the time I had finished training the last recruits there was no point in me leaving as it was over.

We have certainly felt the consequences of our support for the Taliban. Firstly our money supply from abroad has stopped completely. Investors and donors don't want anything to do with us any more because they're worried about being targeted by America. For example there are several international bodies in Arabia or Kuwait who want to help with education in Indonesia such as building Islamic boarding schools or mosques. But because America is pressurising them, all our access to Arabian countries has been closed. They said they would be linked to al-Qaida if they gave us money.

Attracting new members is also becoming a big problem. Parents are forbidding their children from joining us because they think we are a radical group of terrorists. Every time we have had a recruitment session only a few people have come.